Various spun materials, including glass fibers, are manufactured by a spinning process. As the fibers are spun they are wound on a spindle. The spindle will generally comprise a cardboard cylinder.
It is necessary to the manufacturing process that certain information be marked on each spindle once the manufacturing process is complete. This allows identification and tracking of the glass fiber on each spindle.
Typically, the information is marked on each spindle optically for reading by a person, or with a bar code reader.
Other non-optical means of marking and reading information are available. For example, transponders may be molded into a product. The transponder stores and transmits information as required by a user. The transponders are generally queried by an interrogator when the stored information is needed.
Representative of the art is U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,918 to Giles et al. (1991) which discloses a phase encoded transponder circuit which may be a passive device capable of response to an interrogating signal and is capable of transmitting an individual unique identification code.
Also representative of the art is EP 956537A1 to PAV Card GmbH which discloses a transmission module for contactless transmission of date between a ship and a reading device.
Also representative of the art is WO99/23024 to Wibmer GmbH which discloses a spool sleeve having interconnected layers, an inner layer fitted with a notch in which a correspondingly formed transponder is embedded whose mass is at least approximately the same as that of the piece of strip that has been cut out so no imbalance between the sleeve and transponder arises.
However, the prior art transponders are molded into the product. As such, they are susceptible to mechanical damage caused by stresses transmitted to the transponder resulting from flexing of the product. Repeated flexing of the transponder during use results in premature failure.
What is needed is a spindle sleeve having means for electronically processing data. What is needed is a spindle sleeve having a transponder for receiving and transmitting data. What is needed is a spindle sleeve having a sealable pocket for receiving a transponder. What is needed is a spindle sleeve having means for non-fixedly receiving a transponder. What is needed is a spindle sleeve having a sealable pocket located radially outward from tensile cords to minimize transmitted stresses. The present invention meets these needs.